Horse-boot



L. S. LEE.

HORSE BOOT.

(No Model.)

J w "I s 5 v WM/ m-MM e w a ..L A d nu lu H e t a P 8 4 0 N f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS S. LEE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

HORSE-BOOT.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 433,478, dated August 5, 1890.

. SerialNo.850 137i (No model.)

. forhorses; and it consists of certain improvements which are fully set forth in the following specification, and shown in the accompanying'drawings, which form a part thereof.

Interfering in horses, or the striking of one leg by the other during motion, due to the horse carrying his legs too closely together, is an evil which many devices have been designed to overcome.

My present invention is intended not only to prevent injury to the horse by preventing the striking of the leg, but also to effect a cure of the habit by teaching the animal to carry his legs wider apart, so that interfering will be impossible.

With this object I employ a le -strap for attachment to the leg of the horse carryinga laterally-projecting striker which projects inwardly toward the interfering leg, and is adapted, when the leg is brought so close to the other that it is in danger of interfering, to strike it gently. This causes the horse to spread his legs or carry them wider apart in order to avoid the blow.

Interfering devices have been devised in which this striker is free to swing loosely from the le -strap, so as to strike both the interferin g leg and the one carrying the device. This is very objectionable, as it tends to confuse the horse, since he receives the blow as well when he spreads his legs as when he carries them so close as to be in danger of interfering. In order that the blow given to the horse by the striker or projection shall not be too severe or injure the animal, it is necessary that this projection or striker shall pos' sess a certain amount of flexibility, and to prevent this flexibility allowing the striker in time to depend or hang down sufficiently to strike the leg carrying the apparatus, I so construct and support the flexible projection that it will always assume a substantially lateral position, or one in which it cannot strike the leg to which it is attached. I also construct the striker or projection so that it may be tightened to take up any looseness due to stretching of the leather. The striker is preferably formed of rubber balls carried by a projecting piece of leather or rawhide, and my invention includes the means of supporting these balls upon the piece of leather, and relates to certain other improvements in con :struction and arrangement of parts, herein- ;after more fully described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of my improved interfering device. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional View of a portion of the same on the line 06 so of Fig. 1. .Fig. 3 is an end view of the striker or projection. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional View similar to Fig. 2, invention; and Fig. 5 is a sectional horizontal View similar to Fig. 1, illustrating another modification.

A is a legstrap carrying a buckle for attaching the strap to the leg of a horse, and provided with the usual pads B and O for protecting the leg and holding the device in place.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4 one portion of the strap A is secured to the illustrating a modification of my pad B, while the other portion passes through v double thickness of leather, so as to be firmer...

It also affords better means for attaching the end ball, as is hereinafter more f ullyset fort-h.

E are a series of balls, of rubber or other suitable material, carried by the projecting portion D or loop of the strap and constitute the striker. The balls are supported upon the projection by means of the end ball, which is secured thereto. I prefer to form this attachment of the end ball to the projection within the central hole of the ball in the manner shown in the drawings, so that the end of the loop or projecting portion does not proj ect through the ball and form any objectionable lump or knob, which is liable to cut or bruise the skin of the horse when the projection strikes the leg. This attachment is preferably accomplished by means of a fastening wire or cord F, passed throughatransverse hole e in the ball E within the end of the loop D on the inside of the ball and then around the outer surface of the ball and between the two faces of the strap, forming the 5 loop D on the outside of the ball. The free ends are twisted together and placed between these faces of the strap and are held in place and prevented from becoming loosened by means of stitches f. By this construction a 'very firm fastening is obtained, which is not liable to become loosened by reason of the use of the interfering device, and the striker is formed with a smooth end, as shown in Fig. 3, without any projecting knob or lump.

1 5 While I prefer the form of striker shown consisting of the rubber balls E, carried by the loop D, it 1nay,if desired, be made in any other convenient manner.

By forming the striker or projection inte- 2o gral with the strap A, passing loosely through the hole I) in the pad B, it will be seen that any stretching of the strap forming the projection will be taken up by the strap A en circling the leg of the horse, since this part, being buckled to the leg of the animal, will necessarily draw upon the free projecting end carried by it, and thus cause it to assume always the proper lateral position. In order that this projection may be drawn more 0 lightly to the face of the pad B and held in that position, I form the inner ball G of the series with a flattened face which rests against the face of the pad. The pad B thus forms a supporting piece for the projection or striker, and, if desired, it may be employed for this purpose alone, omitting the soft padding. The same result may beaccomplished by employinga projecting lug or support H, of rubber or other suitable material, carried by as to support the projection in its lateral posi-- tion while allowing it to possess the requisite flexibility. .With a construction employing this lug or support II it is not essential that the projection or striker should be integral with a portion of the leg-strap, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, and in Fig. 5 is disclosed a construction in which the projection D is secured to the face of the pad B by means of stitches d, and is supported by a lug H.

I are tubular pieces of rubber or other suitably soft material through which the strap A is passed, so as to prevent the strap coining directly in contact with the leg of the horse 5 and chafing it.

striker and the supporting-piece to maintain the laterally-p roj ectin g. striker in a horizontal or approximately horizontal position.

2. The combination, with aleg-strap for attachment to the leg of a horse, of a loop D,

formed of flexible material and projecting therefrom, the balls E, carried by the loop, the fastening wire or-cord F, extending trans- Versely through the hole of' the outer ball and on the outside of said ball between the faces of the loop D, to fasten the ball in place.

In testimony of which invention I have hereunto set my hand. g LEWIS S. LEE.

YVitnesses:

R. M. HUNTER, Gno. W. REED. 

